A lot of families invest in antique silver because they’ve been brought up with it and for the
next generation. Traditionally people buy antique silver for wedding presents, birthday
presents and christenings. It is also non-market correlated and not subject to inflammation
or interest rate variations.
We come along with unusual and rare antique silver pieces and we call it antique silver
because it’s over 100 years old! In terms of the quality that we deal with, we only specialise
in English silver from the 18th and 19th century. Having said that, we recently had an
Elizabethan silver cup from 1507 and currently we are looking at decorative 18th century
gilded silver by a London maker. My advice is to always to buy from a London silversmith.
Silver unlike ingots, will increase in value over time, ingots will not.
The craft, quality and authenticity are the three things I would focus on.
If a piece of antique silver has a genuinely good provenance it will always sell in the market.
It will be catalogued with documentation, silver also has Assay Office mark and make sure
you look for big names like Paul Storr and Benjamin Smith. Most important pieces will have
been illustrated in museum booklets and literature.
My personal interest is antique London silver in the 17th and 18th century. It still amazes me, but every so often it comes on the market and it’s getting scarcer and scarcer. So, my advice is to always buy the best you can afford with antique silver, have impeccable provenance and associated literature.